31/08/2025
I have updated my cranial nerves picture it can be quite daunting trying to remember them but if we break it down it does get easier, picture association helped me and I hope they may help you..all my stuff just gives you the basic information to kick start you off
Cranial nerves remember function to remember the name
Cranial nerves can often be a bit of a tongue twister for people to remember, but if you try not to only remember the name but what the nerve does, and what type it is it usually helps when coming to remember which goes where
Do not start off with the Roman numerals for numbers as often your brain is trying to remember numbers, names and functions and there will always be that annoying one you forget which will make your brain freeze (mine used to always be the Oculomotor nerve) and once you lose track the rest of the nerves just become too hard to remember
Trying to remember if the number is CVI or CXI or CX11 can often lead to putting the book down and feeling defeated so start of easy just number them Cranial nerve one or CN1 through to CN12 the Roman Numeral police are not going to come knocking at your door
So, you got you are going to label then CN1-Cn12 now we need to remember what they do
The two main nerve types are Motor or Sensory which is really in the beginning enough to know
Motor nerves carry messages away from the brain to the muscles and glands
Sensory nerves carry messages from outside to the brain through sight, sound, taste, touch, and smell
Easy really, its almost self-explanatory, motor for movement, sensory for sensation
So if we can work out what the cranial nerves function is we already have an answer when coming to the explanation, for example we have four pairs of cranial nerves to do with the eyes but only 3 pairs are for movement and one is for vision so it makes sense 3 pairs are motor nerves and one pair is a sensory nerve
It does get more complicated but when learning new anatomical structures or words it is better to learn one thing and build on it rather than trying to cram a whole chapter into your head and not understanding any of it, we can all write or talk big words but we need to understand them so here is a quick rundown of all the cranial nerves, what they do and what types of nerves make them what they are. Easy Equine Anatomy
CN1 OLFACTORY NERVE (CN1)
Sensory nerve for sense of smell (sensation from outside into nasal cavity)
CN2 OPTICE NERVE (CN11)
Sensory Nerve for vision (sensation from outside into retinas)
CN3 OCULOMOTOR NERVE (CN111)
Motor nerve for eye movement (motor moves muscles)
CN4 TROCHLEAR NERVE (CNIV)
Motor nerve for eye movement (motor moves muscles)
CN5 TRIGEMINAL NERVE (CNV)
Mixed nerve as has Sensory for face and teeth sensation and Motor for movement in the jaw for chewing (mastication)
CN6 ABDUCENS NERVE (CNVI)
Motor nerve for eye movement (often you may see CN3, CN4, CN6 put together as these all together help with all the eye movements
CN7 FACIAL NERVE (CNV11)
Mixed nerve as has Motor nerve for expression, Sensory nerve for part of the tongue and we go back to Motor nerve for some glands (there Is also the parasympathetic supply for the glands, but we are just writing basic's)
CN8 VESTIBUCOCHLEAR NERVE (CNV111)
Sensory nerve for the ear with hearing and balance (if you look at the word you can see if you break it down you get two words mixed into one)
CN9 GLOSSOPHARYNGEAL NERVE (CNIX)
Sensory and Motor nerves to the Palate and salivary glands (again a parasympathetic supply)
CN10 VAGUS NERVE (CNX)
Sensory nerves to the external ear, Motor nerve to the Laryngeal muscles and as this nerve goes far into the body it has far reaching effects (parasympathetic supply to the cervical, thoracic, abdominal viscera)
CN11 ACCESSORY NERVE (CNX1)
Motor nerve to four muscles in the horse's shoulder but also does have a connection to the vagus nerve
CN12 HYPOGLOSSAL NERVE (CNX11)
Motor nerve to the muscles in the tongue
A couple of things to remember
They are numbered based on which order they come out from the brain and brainstem from front to back (there is a cranial nerve 0 called the terminal nerve)
Glossal means of the tongue
Vestibulocochlear means a nerve in the ear (also known as Auditory Nerve)
Mixed nerve when there is more than one type of nerve
Abducens simply means the function of the nerve as it draws the eye away from the midline (abducts)
Oculomotor means moving the eyeball
Trochlear means a pulley so to lift and pull sideways
Trigeminal means 3 so triplet nerve (3 branches)
